The Battery Farm | PEST | Hail Spraytan | Indefinite Articles
Grafton Arms, Manchester
14th September 2024
Louder Than War favourites The Battery Farm play their final Manchester gig ahead of much-anticipated second album, Dark Web, due out in November.
I always find the Grafton Arms is a strange venue for gigs, although not necessarily in a bad way. It’s a friendly enough place, a very reasonably priced bar (Joseph Holts) but often with a clientele made up of hospital workers, Manchester Royal Infirmary being next door, and locals out for a quiet pint. Anyone wanting a quiet pint is sorely disappointed this evening, as Third Summer Music have an evening of noise planned.
Tonight’s openers are Indefinite Articles, who are also the evening’s promoters, stepping in at the eleventh hour due to another band unfortunately having to drop out. Performing as a trio, the queer punk rock act have a C86 vibe, fronted by Sophie. Shamefully, although they’ve been around for several years, I’ve never come across them before. The highlight of their set is the catchily titled Take Off The Kagoul (You Look Like a Twat) with a riff not dissimilar to The Clash’s Groovy Times.
Hail Spraytan follow, another North-West based band who I’m not familiar with. Ben from the headliners has only positive things to say about them beforehand, so I am looking forward to checking them out. I’m not disappointed. The quartet playing ‘earnest pop for anxious punks’ (their words not mine) deliver a great set with strong harmonies, absolutely nailing the loud/quiet/loud dynamic a la Pixies.
The evening is one of two halves. The audience swells in the changeover time as PEST get set up; it’s great to see them again. The Grafton Arms is their Manchester debut. They’ve not ventured North much thus far other than recent gigs at Blossoms in Stockport and a well-received opening spot at the Rebellion Festival, both of which have gone down a storm.
The duo consists of frontman Cameron (the one with the bat tattooed on the back of his head) and drummer Harvey (the one with the Victorian Dad twirly moustache) dressed in their signature bottle green overalls. They are on form again, grabbing attention from the off. They are fucking loud. By the end of the opening number, Safe, most of those loitering in the bar or in the smoking area are stage at the front of the stage.
The pair are currently recording several tracks for a debut album, and we get to hear some of the newer tracks tonight alongside earlier singles. I’m On The TV! and Menace fall into the former category and fit effortlessly into the set. Most of the audience would have been unfamiliar with the band, save the gent who was in attendance after catching them in Blackpool, so to the uninitiated they’re here, hitting fully formed and hitting the ground running. Earlier releases Nicotine and Empire hit the spot, songs often bleeding into one another. Overthrow features an extended instrumental workout which you’d think would knacker them out, particularly Harvey, yet Butane starts sounding like there’s a machine gun going off.
PEST’s ten-song flies by. Their most popular song to date, Warriors, Witches, And Women (with 11k streams to date), starts us on the home straight ahead of recent single, 0121DO1, named for the sound of the name rather than as an affront to the people of the UK’s ‘second city’. They close on Tsunami, which is fitting as we’ve been hit by unrelenting soundwaves which will mean my ears will be ringing for a few days.
Fair play to The Battery Farm for suggesting PEST join the bill for tonight. After honing their craft in and around London they’re now spreading their wings. It won’t long before they’re playing bigger venue. I for one would love to see them either in the intimate basement at YES or on stage at The Deaf Institute.
Talking of the latter tonight’s headliners, The Battery Farm will be appearing there for the launch of their second album Dark Web on 29th November. The set tonight is a mix of new tracks along with favourites from Flies and the earlier EPs. The band open with a new song, Under The Bomb. It’s trippy, it’s acoustic with added glitching effects. It also has a twisted nursery rhyme feel. The calm before the storm. They then explode into Crude Oil Water. Ben flits between the stage and the crowd as Dom, wearing a black hooded cloak, plays like he’s a man possessed. Recent single Oh God follows, which sees the frontman laying hands on members of the crowd, blessing their attendance.
New track Steve’s Ices offers a cacophony of noise leading into Hail Mary. Fan favourites Wooden Spoon Number and Working Class Lad hit the spot ahead of another new track, Icicles, which see’s Corry shaking with emotion as he sings. I must give a shout to stand in bassist Chris, standing in for Paul tonight who is otherwise engaged. The stage isn’t that deep so if you want to let loose it’s possibly not that easy which means at points he is out in the crowd.
Roy Keane Isn’t Real goes down a storm. The favourite from the Dirty Den’s March Of Suffering leads into In The Belly Of The Beast. Whether it’s the vocalist channelling the Devil or just a technical fault, things are delayed slightly while his microphone is replaced. The Battery Farm close on visceral renditions of When The Whip Goes Crack and While The Black Smoke Rises.
Another great performance from the band in a slightly smaller venue than usual which only added to the intensity. For those outside of Manchester, following the album launch the band will be going out on tour. Miss them at your peril.
The Battery Farm can be found on Facebook and Instagram
PEST can be found on Facebook and Instagram
Hail Spraytan can be found on Facebook and Instagram
Indefinite Articles can be found on Facebook and Instagram
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All words by Iain Key. See his author profile here or find him on X (Twitter) as @iainkey
All photos by Alison Morris for @peterooneyphotography
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